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10 Reasons to Wake Up Earlier in the Morning
- Posted on May 18, 2022 at 12:25 pm
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Burn Fat and Feast
If you've ever said, "I am not a morning person", hear me out. Today's blog post is all about 10 reasons to wake up earlier in the morning. Once you read ALL TEN benefits of being an early riser, you might be convinced to try it out. In fact, I challenge you right now to commit to getting up earlier for the next 30 days and report back to me with how you feel and how your days have changed. There are so many positive benefits from waking up early.
1. May Improve Cognitive Function
People who get up early in the morning can concentrate better, are more attentive, and stay energized throughout the day according to Sleep Advisor. Your brain is more alert in the morning, so focusing on important tasks earlier will allow you to make better decisions than people who work later. A 2010 Harvard University study found that morning people have better problem-solving skills, get better grades in school, and land higher paying jobs.
2. Helps You Sleep Better
Waking up early makes going to bed earlier easier and helps you get consistent sleep and wake times. This helps to regulate your circadian rhythm and can lead to a better quality of sleep. Getting adequate sleep may lower your blood pressure, boost your immune system and mood, as well as improve brain function. Plus on the flip side, people who tend to be night owls are more likely to feel tired and develop sleep disorders.
3. Gives you a head start
When you wake up at 5am, you start your day earlier than 99.9% of the world — which gives you a head start in your day. This creates a feel-good factor, which, creates a host of positive effects in your day. After all, a good start is half the battle won. It will motivate you to stay ahead so that you can maintain or even widen the lead and help you finish the day strong.
So by waking up early, you start the day FEELING better, and we all know that how you feel greatly impacts how you approach your day.
4. Increased productivity
My productivity soars on the days I wake up early. It’s a benefit that comes from getting a head start — you feel motivated to continue your lead, resulting in more things done and things getting completed faster. This applies even if I’m awake for the same number of hours during days I wake up early, and the days when I don’t. When I wake up late, I spend more time getting the same stuff done. Weird, huh? I think it’s very much linked to getting a head start, which puts you in the right frame of mind to get big tasks done quickly.
5. Timeliness
Have you ever woken up late before and had to make a mad rush for your appointments? Being on time is important to create a good impression, and as a form of respect. When it comes to work, being timely is essential. Rather than rush around every morning which can be very tiring, waking up early gives you more time to prepare and be timely.
Putting a cut off on your sleeping and waking time also gives you structure to your days and makes you more aware of how you spend your time. This goes a long way in improving your timeliness. Just think about all the things you could get done in the morning by waking up just 20 minutes earlier.
6. Peace and quiet
The tranquility you get in the morning is indescribable. There’s the physical quietness. You are alone with no disturbance. No one’s out on the streets, there’s no traffic on the road, nobody in your house is up making noise and there are no texts or phone calls either to take away your attention.
Then there’s quietness on the mental level. Have you ever walked into an interview waiting room where you can immediately feel the tension? Even though no one is speaking, you can feel the tension from the room. The same principle applies here. In the early hours of the morning when everyone is still asleep, you are free from the chatter. Not only that, because you process mental clutter when you sleep, the chatter in your own mind is less when you wake up. While physical peace is something you get by sleeping late, mental peace only comes from waking up early.
This peacefulness gives you the space to get a fast start on whatever you want to do.
7. Faster commute
If you travel to work/school, you can travel during non-peak hours and skip the traffic. This cuts down on the time spent on commuting, giving you more time to do other things.
8. Breakfast
It’s common for people to skip breakfast because they woke up late and didn’t have time or worse, just grab whatever is easy as you rush out the door....which let's be honest, isn't typically the best choice of fuel to start your day. When I wake up early, I get time to prepare my breakfast and my kids breakfast, making sure it's a healthy way to start the day and we can actually enjoy it sitting down rather than on the go.
9. Exercise
You don't have to be a morning person to reap the benefits of early morning exercise. In fact, studies show that morning is the best time to exercise. If you've ever tried to workout later in the day, I'm sure you've been in a situation where your plans change and you skip your workout that day. Waking up early gives you time to exercise in the morning when plans haven't had time to change on you and the only thing in the way of your workout is YOU. So step out of that cozy bed and move your body. You will never regret it...plusThere’s nothing like a great workout to boost your day and attitude!?
10. Seeing the world wake up
Whether you live in the city and watch the cars, and city rise or you are in the country and watch the beautiful sunrise and listen to the birds singing their song, there's something magical about witnessing the whole place coming alive. Again, if starting your day in a good mood, feeling refreshed and calm, watching the beauty of the world, is a great place to begin.
So are you convinced yet? Want to give it a try? Give a month of consistent early morning and see how you feel. What can it hurt?
Did you know that Burn Fat & FEAST now has a podcast? Tune into brand new episodes each week that cover health related topics and occasional guest speakers. Tune into more details on early mornings with Episode 6 of the Burn Fat and Feast Podcast.
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